Start Me Up
by hflower
Summary: When Ianto's body disappears from the Torchwood vault after rift activity, Jack's at a loss at what to do. But when The Doctor shows up with a new companion, things change forever. Post CoE
1. Prologue

**Title - Start Me Up - Prologue**

**Disclaimer - I own nothing of Torchwood, unfortunately. If I did I would be a very happy woman.**

**Rating - T**

**Pairings - Eventual Jack/Ianto**

**Summary - ****When Ianto's body disappears from the Torchwood vault after rift activity, Jack's at a loss at what to do. But when The Doctor shows up with a new companion, things change forever. Post CoE**

**AN: Hope you guys like this! This is going to be the first multi chapter story that I actually finish writing. This is just a little introduction to the plot, things will get more interesting in the next chapters!**

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When Ianto had died, Jack had cried with Gwen, but there had been no time to properly grieve. They had to deal with stopping the 456, at all costs. Even if it cost Jack his grandson. There had been no time, speed had been essential in order to stop the 456 from taking all those children.

It was for Ianto.

That's what was running through Jack's mind when he destroyed the 456 and his grandson. Alice may not talk to him ever again. Bu Jack wasn't going to let Ianto, and all of those other people in Thames House, die for nothing.

'Don't forget me.' That was what Ianto had asked of him.

It was never going to happen. Jack would never forget Ianto. A man who had loved him so purely, Jack was sure he didn't deserve the Welshman.

The clean up operation after the 456 had been a tedious and messy situation. Jack didn't care what the government did, as long as they didn't endanger any more lives. He just cared about the lives lost. Ianto's life.

After the 456, there was time to grieve.

Like with all dead members of Torchwood, Ianto's belongings were packed up and placed in storage. Jack had been the one to do it. Gwen couldn't be doing any heavy lifting, and it was his way of finally saying good-bye to Ianto.

Cleaning out the man's flat, he wouldn't need to hide the tears, he wouldn't need to hold back his emotions.

Things at Ianto's flat had been unsettling to say the least. There were things planned for the future. Things Ianto would never get to do. There was a receipt for dry cleaning to be picked up. Dirty sheets lay in a basket waiting to be put in the washing machine.

Everything smelt of Ianto. Jack had taken his time clearing out the apartment. He had cried over his favourite shirt of Ianto's and packed away the man's things with care.

When he was done, and Ianto's life was in boxes in storage, Jack dealt with the body. Properly signed off, updated Ianto's file in the Torchwood database and said good-bye to him for one last time.

Ianto's body was going to be stored in the UNIT morgue in Cardiff until a new Torchwood hub was built.

They were also using a temporary base of operations until the more suitable building was done. The most important thing to finish first was the new vault. When it was ready, Ianto's body would be moved from the UNIT morgue to Torchwood property.

Then at least Ianto would be at home, and able to rest in a secure place.

The majority of things had been destroyed in the explosion, but they managed to salvage what they could. The Torchwood mainframe was still accessible, so they still had all their files. It was just the technology, alien and human that they had lost.

The new Torchwood hub was going to be built near Cardiff bay again, in an old warehouse that had some underground storage. It would be a new home, but never quite like the old Torchwood hub.

But things needed to carry on, they always did.

Al the people Torchwood had lost. Suzie, Owen, Tosh and now Ianto. Life just, had to continue. But with the two of them it was going to be hard. Especially with Gwen being pregnant.

It had been hanging at the back of Jack's mind now for a couple of days and it was Gwen who finally addressed the situation.

"Jack…" she said, having knocked on his temporary office door and walking into the room.

She looked tired. It was obvious Gwen wasn't sleeping well. And it looked as though she had been crying.

"Yes Gwen?" Jack was tired as well, he spent most of his nights awake, afraid to close his eyes and see Ianto's face.

"We need to start looking for new… new recruits." She said slowly, trying to gauge Jack's reaction.

"Yes, yes you're right." He noticed a pile of papers in the woman's hand. "What have you got?"

"A couple of computer specialists. A doctor who works for UNIT… a few others…" She handed over the files as she spoke. "I knew you'd want to go through them carefully… before making any decisions."

Jack glanced over the files and nodded. "Thanks Gwen. Why don't you go home early? Get some rest?" I'll let you know if anything comes up."

Gwen had thought to protest, but guessed that Jack probably wanted some time to himself, and whispered a thanks before leaving the office to go home.

When Gwen had left, Jack reluctantly looked over the files with more detail. He noticed that Gwen hadn't put any recruits in with archive skills, or 'good coffee making' skiils. It seemed as though neither of them could bear to replace Ianto.

Not yet anyway. It was too soon. They needed time to heal before bringing in someone new.

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It was 5 weeks after the end of the 456 that the new Torchwood Hub was finally useable. There was still some work going on, but it was mainly moving furniture in and final touches to the decoration and electronics.

Jack had moved Ianto's body in there as soon as he could, not liking the idea of the man's body being in the UNIT morgue for any longer than it needed to be.

Ianto was the first body in the vault. The first of many, Jack reasoned. It wouldn't be long before the alien bodies started to arrive in the vault. Hopefully it would be a while yet before they had to store a dead friend.

Jack's office was modelled such that it was very similar to his previous ones. When he'd first seen it set up, with the room beneath it, he'd gotten very nostalgic.

That night, he'd silently cried himself to sleep as he remembered all the times he and Ianto had shared in the old Hub.

After they had settled in the new Hub, Jack had reluctantly told Gwen who he thought would be good and they started to selection process. It was going to be painful for both of them, bringing up old and fresh wounds from friends long gone.

Eventually it was decided on a computer specialist named Gareth from North Wales, a woman called Victoria with a medical background and a graduate who had been working for UNIT for the past 15 months called Colin.

They needed five people on the team, especially with it being more risky for Gwen to go out in the field.

After a couple of weeks of the new recruits, Jack decided that he had made the right choices, and life at Torchwood slowly seemed to return to normal.

Normal that was, except Jack's heart was still bleeding.

Bleeding for the man he loved, and hadn't loved enough.

Some nights when Jack was feeling particularly lonely, and everyone else had gone home he would open the vault just to look at Ianto's face.

He could almost pretend that Ianto was still alive. That he was just sleeping.

Other times it brought back too many memories of watching Ianto die and knowing he could do nothing to save him.

Captain Jack Harkness knew that this would be one thing that would take a long time to mend. It wouldn't be a simple case of reviving and everything being normal again.

He could come back from death as many times as he could, and the only thing that wouldn't be new again would be his heart.

All he wanted was Ianto Jones back in his life. And he knew that it would never happen.

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**Thanks for reading! Reviews are loved!**


	2. Chapter One

**Title - Start Me Up - Prologue**

**Disclaimer - I own nothing of Torchwood, unfortunately. If I did I would be a very happy woman.**

**Rating - T**

**Pairings - Eventual Jack/Ianto**

**Summary - ****When Ianto's body disappears from the Torchwood vault after rift activity, Jack's at a loss at what to do. But when The Doctor shows up with a new companion, things change forever. Post CoE**

**AN: Thanks for all the reviews and favourites! It's good to know that people like the idea for this story. Anyway, hope you like this chapter as much as the Prologue!**

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It was the new team's first Weevil attack, and Jack was apprehensive as to how they would work together in the field.

When the recruits had joined them, Jack had briefed them on the most common of aliens found in Cardiff, one of them being the Weevil. He didn't need someone to freak out when they were trying to stop the damn things.

Someone had called Andy at Cardiff Central Police Station to let him know of a group of homeless people in a warehouse that looked very strange.

Andy had immediately called up Gwen to let her know as it sounded suspiciously like something Torchwood would deal with.

Gwen and Andy had a sort of agreement now he knew about Torchwood. He would be their contact inside the police force to let them know of anything suspicious that was going on.

"Thanks Andy, I owe you one." Gwen said, hanging on the call. "Jack, we've got some trouble."

Gwen quickly explained the situation, before Jack nodded and starting putting together the team in his head. It was going to be a good way to test the team. The Weevil's weren't attacking yet, but a group of them joining together was never a good thing.

"Right Gwen, you direct us to the Weevil's. I want you staying in the Hub for this one." Jack said firmly.

"But Jack! Besides you I know the Weevil's better than anyone here. And just because I'm pregnant doesn't mean you're going to make me sit out of everything!"

"Gwen, this is going to be a training exercise of sorts. I want to see how well they do under pressure. So you'll be sitting this one out."

Gwen had been about to respond when Jack just walked away from her, already yelling out orders.

"Gareth! Victoria! Colin! You're with me, we've got some Weevil catching to do!"

The ride in the SUV had been quiet, each member of the team nervous in their own different ways.

For Colin, a man who had worked in UNIT before, he was more nervous about impressing Jack than anything else. Working in UNIT, he'd seen a bit of alien activity, and so wasn't too put off by going straight into a warehouse full of Weevils.

Gareth and Victoria on the other hand, had never seen any alien before in real life. Both had done some research through the Torchwood database, but they were both apprehensive about actually seeing alien life in person and having to fight it.

Though Jack was a little nervous to see how the team worked together, he felt reasonably confident that he had chosen well and everything would go accordingly.

Gwen was giving him directions through his earpiece, and sounded a little sullen but did her job none the less.

They arrived at the warehouse quickly, and Jack told everyone to arm themselves, but be careful. He didn't want anyone getting nervous and start to fire bullets in every direction.

What they didn't need was for the Weevils to panic and start to scatter. All they wanted to do was break up the gathering, and maybe try to subdue a couple of them to take back to the Hub.

Jack took the lead, the three others following close behind him. They spilt into two groups, Victoria coming with him while Gareth and Colin moved round to the other entrance.

The Captain could hear the heavy breathing from his teammates in his earpiece. They were all nervous, and nervous sometimes caused mistakes.

"Move in." He whispered through the communicator, before kicking down the door gun leading the way.

It was a quick operation, mainly scattering the Weevils so they went back to the sewers. Jack didn't want his Hub to be filled with Weevils stinking up the place.

"Good job team. Nice thinking Colin, shooting in the air to scatter them. The last thing we want is to clean up a Weevil body. Hell to get blood stains off of this coat." He joked, holstering his gun.

What he hadn't noticed was a Weevil watching them in the shadows that suddenly leapt from the corner.

Victoria panicked as the Weevil went for Jack, and fired three shots. One of them got its target in the shoulder, and the Weevil squealed before running out the warehouse.

The other two had hit Jack in the chest. Victoria wasn't the best shot in the world, and the Weevil had been coming up behind Jack.

With a lasting breath, Jack slumped to the floor, and Victoria let out a loud gasp before she panicked.

"Oh my god Gwen! I shot him, I didn't mean to… it was an accident, he was just in the way and the Weevil was coming. I didn't think, my god Gwen he's not moving." Victoria screeched into the earpiece.

Gareth was checking Jack's vitals for any sign of life, and shook his head when he found none.

"He's dead! He's actually dead! What have I done?" Victoria was staring at the gun in her hand, while Colin stood there frowning.

He'd heard that Captain Jack Harkness couldn't die and yet the man was quite clearly dead. It must just be bored UNIT employees making up gossip to pass the time.

Back at the Hub, Gwen wanted to smack herself. These new recruits really didn't know anything, and she really didn't need them screaming down the communicator at her.

"Victoria calm down! Just wait a couple of minutes okay?" She paused, hoping that the woman wouldn't freak out too much when he came back to life. "Though I should warn you about something. Jack's a bit special you see he…"

There was a scream, and Gwen could guess that Jack had just revived. At least it had been quick this time.

Though it was going to be interesting trying to calm down Victoria.

* * *

After the Weevil operation, Jack had explained to the new team that he couldn't die, but they should avoid from killing him where possible. He liked to keep count.

The three of them had paled at that thought.

Jack was a formidable man; no one wanted to get on his bad side.

* * *

Things had been going quietly for the past couple of days, and Jack knew that it wasn't going to stay that way for long.

It never did. There was never a 'quiet week' when you worked for Torchwood.

There was a sudden spike in rift activity, alerting everyone on the computers. It was a large spike, and it was close.

"Tell me where it's coming from people!" Jack boomed, running out of his office and into the main work area.

Gareth was tapping furiously away on his computer, but when he saw where the rift activity was coming from his fingers flew over the keyboard to check again. Turning to Jack, he looked very surprised.

"It's coming from inside Torchwood sir. Inside the vault, specifically drawer number 107."

Jack instantly knew that was the drawer that Ianto's body was kept in.

Without another thought, Jack fled the room and ran to the vault where they kept all the bodies. He'd done this so many times before, but now it was with an urgency that he hadn't felt for a long time.

Pulling open the drawer, Jack expected to see Ianto's body lying there, perfectly preserved, just as he had always been.

The white body bag was there, but it was flat.

Not wanting to believe what he was seeing Jack tore open the flimsy material to discover the truth.

Ianto's body was gone.

The rift had taken Ianto's body.

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**Thanks for reading! Reviews are loved!**


	3. Chapter Two

**Title - Start Me Up - Prologue**

**Disclaimer - I own nothing of Torchwood, unfortunately. If I did I would be a very happy woman.**

**Rating - T**

**Pairings - Eventual Jack/Ianto**

**Summary - ****When Ianto's body disappears from the Torchwood vault after rift activity, Jack's at a loss at what to do. But when The Doctor shows up with a new companion, things change forever. Post CoE**

**AN: Got this chapter out quickly again! A lot happens in this chapter. The next chapter might be a couple of days longer in getting to you! Thank you once again for all your reviews!**

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Ianto's body was gone. It had just disappeared. There had been the rift spike, then nothing. Ianto's body had been pulled through the rift and there was nothing he could do about it.

It was like the world had decided Jack hadn't had enough heartbreak in his life and wanted to cause him even more grief.

That was the only thing left of Ianto that Jack could easily get a hold of.

All of his things were in storage, which was all the way across town. It would be hard for him to go there in the evening or during the day without raising any suspicions.

With Ianto's body in the vault, Jack had slowly started to mend his heart. It was a slow process, and it would probably take years but it had started.

With this new development, the stitches in Jack's heart had been ripped out and he was starting to bleed again.

He was starting to panic, ripping at the bag and making sure that Ianto wasn't in there.

The rest of the team managed to get to the vault about thirty seconds after him. Gwen trailing behind a little more due to her baby bump.

"No, no this can't be happening…" Jack said in a rushed voice, checking frantically inside the vault to make sure that the body just hadn't slipped out.

"Jack? What's wrong?" Gareth asked, stepping forward a little to see what was going on, though Gwen put a hand on the man's arm to stop him from going any further.

"That was where Ianto's… where Ianto was." Gwen said quietly to the three of them, though Jack could hear it any way.

The rest of the team knew about Ianto vaguely, only from what Gwen had told them about.

She had thought it best to tell him, so they didn't ask anything that might upset Jack. It was why they still got coffee from the shop over the road instead of buying a coffee machine and left the archiving to Jack.

There was a tense silence over the room, and Gwen motioned for the three others to leave them alone. She wanted to talk to Jack, to make sure that he was… coping. It was obvious that he wasn't okay, but as long as he wasn't going to do anything stupid…

"Jack….?" Gwen asked, watching as the man was hunched the drawer that had previously contained Ianto's body.

"I'm fine Gwen, you can leave." Gwen could hear that Jack was trying to hold back the tears. She knew that he didn't like crying in front of other people. It was a rare sight when Jack had cried after reviving when Ianto had died.

"You know that's not true Jack. You're not fine." She said quietly, watching the man. Gwen didn't know whether she should go over and comfort him, or stay back where she was. "Ianto wouldn't have wanted this Jack. He would have wanted you to… at least come to terms with his death."

"That's not true. The last thing he said to me… the last thing Ianto said… he wanted me to never forget him." Jack's voice nearly cracked on the last word. "And now it's like the Universe wants me to forget him." He was getting quieter with each word.

Gwen nodded, watching the man for a moment before deciding that he best be left alone for a while. "Well, just… don't stay down here too long, okay?" She said before leaving.

Jack stayed down in the vault for a further hour, his mind running over all the possibilities of what could have happened to Ianto's body.

It had just disappeared, gone in thin air.

After, Jack had gone upstairs to the main area of the hub.

None of the team had said anything to him. He'd just gone into his office and continued work like nothing had happened.

He didn't like people seeing him be weak. Jack was a leader, and if he was emotionally unstable his team might start to doubt his leadership.

It had happened once before, and Jack hadn't liked it. When Tosh, Owen, Ianto and Gwen had opened the rift. It had broken the team for a while.

This new team, with Victoria, Gareth and Colin… they were finally settling into a routine and working well together.

It was something Jack didn't want to ruin.

Not by being selfish with his own emotions.

No matter how much he wanted to indulge in them, and mourn once more for the loss of Ianto.

* * *

"Uh… Jack, something's happening on the system. There's a weird sort of energy appearing on the sensors." Colin called out, looking at the screen before him. "It's strange… we saw something like this at UNIT…" He was staring at the screen trying to work out why the energy looked so familiar.

Jack had been talking to Gwen, trying to organise when she would be going on maternity leave. At the moment she was doing work around the hub, and not going out on field work.

She was being very stubborn, but Jack knew if he didn't arrange something soon he was going to get an earful off of Rhys.

And that was the last thing Jack wanted, he still hadn't gotten over Ianto's body disappearing. It had been three weeks and they were no closer to finding out what exactly happened when the rift spiked.

"Let's have a look at it then…" Jack was standing behind Colin, looking at the screen for a moment before recognising the signal.

"Call up the CCTV outside the Hub… quickly!" Jack said, watching as Colin did so.

Outside the entrance to the Hub appeared a blue police phone box.

With a grin, Jack ran through the hub and out of the door that came out onto a quiet street in the town centre.

With the doctor here, Jack might be able to convince the man to let him travel with him again. Just for a short while, just so that he could… maybe finally finish mending from Ianto's death. The team would be able to last a couple of weeks without him.

And it wasn't like he hadn't disappeared before.

It might be selfish, but Jack needed just to get away from things that reminded him of Ianto.

The Doctor stepped out of his TARDIS and looked around the place. Jack noticed that he'd changed once more. The bow tie was interesting, and he looked younger.

"Hey! That's not fair. You can't look younger than me!" He said, grin still in place.

"Ah yes… you're Jack Harkness… first time I've met you… well in this body of course… how's life on the rift?"

The Doctor was just as quirky and strange as Jack last remembered him.

"It's good, never dull that's for sure. How's Martha? Actually you won't have seen her for a while." Jack grinned again, watching the Doctor carefully. "So who's your new companion?"

"Well about that… you see it's a bit complicated…"

Behind the doctor, a man stepped out of the TARDIS turning to look at Jack. He had short dark brown, almost black hair and was wearing a well tailored suit.

"Ianto?"

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**Thanks for reading! Reviews are loved!**


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